


Welcome Back Your Roots

by StagedWhisper



Series: Anchor 'verse [2]
Category: My Chemical Romance, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge - My Chemical Romance (Album)
Genre: Aftercare, BDSM, Bondage, Dom Gerard Way, Dom/sub, Domdrop, Hurt/Comfort, Light Bondage, M/M, Non-Sexual Kink, Riding Crops, Sobriety, Spanking, Sub Frank Iero, Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-30
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:48:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26734606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StagedWhisper/pseuds/StagedWhisper
Summary: Frank's safety and wellbeing has always been Gerard's number one priority but for once - just once - Frank wants Gerard's needs and happiness to come first.Follows "Let Me Be Your Anchor" but can also be read as a stand-alone.Set in mid-August 2004
Relationships: Frank Iero & Gerard Way, Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Series: Anchor 'verse [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1945843
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	Welcome Back Your Roots

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who read and commented on 'Let Me Be Your Anchor' - after thinking on it, there are a few more adventures in this universe I want to explore. 
> 
> Title from the song "If You Let Me Be Your Anchor" by Dawes

It’s been the most draining week of Frank’s life. The summer leading up to this has been a wild ride, but absolutely nothing could prepare Frank for Osaka and everything that has happened since. He paces the practice studio, the first to arrive back inside after a short lunch break. It’s a single day of rehearsals with their new drummer, and tomorrow they’re shooting a music video for _“I’m Not Okay.”_

Frank’s skin is thrumming, he continues pacing the space as he thinks. So much about their life now is out of Gerard’s hands - what city they wake up in each morning, how many photoshoots are in the schedule, which ridiculous interview questions they have to answer next. Frank doesn’t envy all the decisions that land on Gerard as the band’s unanimous leader, but since Gerard made the big choice to sober up last week, everything that’s happened since has been handled by Brian, the label, and Gerard’s new therapists. 

Under an unspoken agreement, Frank doesn’t submit to Gerard when either of them is too wasted. As Gerard blazed down the road of self-destruction both their play scenes and sex life stopped. Frank still seeks out Gerard for reassurance, but in different ways. He’s taken to occasionally sleeping in Gerard’s bunk just to hear him breathe and to feel the rise and fall of Gerard’s chest under his hand. Only then does Frank’s inner fire simmer down enough to let him sleep. 

Tonight, Frank thinks as he paces, he wants to give Gerard something to hold onto. He knows they’ll both feel better after returning to this place of control and intimacy they’ve explored together, that’s exclusively theirs. This thing between them may have started with fulfilling Frank’s needs, but as Gerard stepped into the role as Frank’s dom, his protector, his secret keeper - Gerard has come to need it too. Frank's safety and wellbeing has always been Gerard's number one priority but for once - just once - Frank wants Gerard's needs and happiness to come first. 

As the rest of the guys shuffle back into the room, everyone gravitating back into place to begin the second half of their day, Frank rolls his shoulders and makes a decision. Tonight, he’s going to give Gerard the chance to reclaim some control in his world. 

Upon entering the hotel room and flicking the lightswitch on, immediately Frank turns around and walks Gerard against the door and leans in to whisper in his ear, “I wanna feel your marks on my back when I’ve got my guitar strapped over my shoulder. Need it to hurt.” 

Gerard blinks, stunned for a second. “You sure, Frank? We haven’t in a while. Wasn’t sure you wanted-” he started to say before being cut off. 

“I want this. And I know you do too. You _need_ this. Take it out on me,” Frank pleads. 

Gerard’s head slumps down, his long hair curtains his face, “I don't deserve you Frank. You're too good for me.” 

“No, Gerard. You keep me safe,” Frank reaches to the hem of his shirt and lifts it over his head. He takes a step closer to Gerard and wraps his arms around Gerard’s neck, pulling him down to match their heights. As Frank leans in and presses their foreheads together he says, “You figured out what I needed without me having to say a word and you always just know when I need to be taken out of my head. But right now, you need control. I want to give you that.” 

Frank can pinpoint the moment Gerard realizes what Frank’s doing. His eyes widen, hands still.  
Tonight is not Frank asking for punishment, instead he’s offering a gift served up on a platter to Gerard. “Fuck, Frankie. You’re so perfect. Finish stripping your clothes. Bend over the foot of the bed, feet on the ground. Face down and arms stretched out in front of you.” 

“Yes, Gee.” Frank kisses the corner of Gerard’s mouth and untangles from his embrace. He sheds his shoes and pants then turns toward the bed and angles his body into position. He hears Gerard’s jacket fall to the floor behind him. 

Gerard’s hand brushes the small of Frank’s back as he asks, as he always does before they begin a scene, “Safe word?”

“Jersey.”

“Good. Stay. No wiggling. I’m going to get our stuff,” Gerard removes his hand and goes digging in Frank’s bag for what he needs. “This is your last choice for tonight: Do you want the crop or the flogger?” 

The flogger is Frank’s favorite, he loves when Gerard teases him with it, the soft leather straps caressing his skin. But no. Tomorrow they have to be on set for a long day of sitting around and waiting between filming. Frank’s going to need something to keep him focused through the day. He needs to feel this after, wants Gerard to make him ache and bruise. Plus, if he’s sore the next day, Gerard will be right there, hyperfocused on him instead of thinking about all the other shit that’s casted a shadow over Gerard’s every step lately. 

“The crop, please.” 

As Gerard binds his wrists with their handcuffs, Frank feels the pull to go under, to slip into that blissful place Gerard always takes him to and just _fly._ For the first time, he fights that feeling with everything he has. He wants to stay present for Gerard. They've only just begun tonight and it's been too long since they last did this, not since the album came out. 

Frank’s been torn down and built back up over and over again by Gerard and he could never deny him anything. He wants Gerard to keep going, fingers itching to return his touch and pull him close. They’re in their own world when they’re like this, speaking the same language of looks and touches while finding peace in the same air. 

He shivers as he feels the crop trace over his shoulders, wide across his back and downward in a spiral all the way down toward his ass. 

“You’re so perfect like this, on display just for me,” Gerard says. He taps Frank’s ass lightly with the crop. “You’ll get ten here to start. Count them.” 

Frank’s eyes slip shut in anticipation. Gerard always manages to catch him by surprise, and just as he’s got his breathing under control the first strike lands, “One,” he gasps. 

The next three come quickly, he’s breathless by the time he croaks out, “four.” 

“Good start Frankie,” Gerard’s voice has settled into the calm, dominating tone that Frank hasn’t heard since the beginning of summer. It’s a balm to his soul and goosebumps litter his skin as he anticipates the next hit. 

_Thwack._ “Five.” The pull to enter his blissful subspace is alluring, Frank blinks his eyes to try to stay out of it, he lets out a whine as the next hit makes it even more difficult to stay focused, “Ah, six.” The next hit lands, “seven.” 

“Three more. Taking it so well, c’mon. Three more,” Gerard winds up for a heavy strike. 

“Eight, fuck” Frank can feel the heat where his ass is turning red from the crop. 

The last two land as a double pair, “nine, ten!” Frank nearly shouts. 

Gerard studies Frank, usually by now Frank is blissed out, but Gerard can tell he’s struggling with something. He runs a hand over the red marks on Frank’s ass and gives it a good slap with his hand, “Why are you fighting it, Frank? You can fall.” Gerard lightly traces the crop across Frank’s upper back, teasing, “I was thinking five on each shoulder. Or do I need to make it ten each?”

Frank’s entire body shakes under Gerard’s touch, his hands struggle against the restraints. 

“Answer me,” Gerard commands. “Why haven’t you gone under? Do you need ten?”

“Wanna stay… with you tonight. Not gonna go under. Keep talking to me,” Frank gasps, as Gerard continues his ministrations, “Gimme ten. Wanna feel each one. Talk me through it. Please.” 

Gerard cannot believe the beautiful sight before him; Frank has never passed on an opportunity to slip into his subspace. He appreciates the effort he knows Frank must be putting on to stay in the same headspace as him; sometimes Gerard’s voice alone can push Frank off the edge, but now he’s asking for Gerard to talk to keep him present. He vows to himself to make this as memorable for Frank as possible, then. “You want ten?” Gerard grabs a handful of Frank’s hair and lifts his head off from the bed, “Beg for ten.”

Frank shakes, skin on fire with want. “Please Gee… please. Give me ten each. Wanna wear your bruises. Gimme your pain. Please I want ten.” Gerard feels the exchange of something heavy between them. A shift he hasn’t felt since the night in the van the first time he tied Frank up. Frank’s plea to _‘gimme your pain’_ reverberates in his brain. 

Gerard’s fist loosens in Frank’s hair and runs down to the back of his neck, all the way down his spine, “So pretty when you beg. Since you asked so nicely.” Gerard’s hand forces Frank’s head back down into the mattress and Frank braces himself for the first hit, unsure of which shoulder Gerard will start on. 

“Still with me?” 

Just as Frank answers “yes” the first hit lands on his right shoulder. He lets out a moan, “One.” 

“Good, Frankie. Good.” The next hit lands in the exact same spot as the first. 

“Two.. three” Frank tries to settle, but is still using every ounce of willpower he has left to stay present. 

The strikes continue, _four, five_ and _six_ all arrive on beat. 

“So red, Frank. It’s beautiful,” Gerard says in awe. 

“Ah, seven!” Frank knows he sounds more and more desperate and broken with each number, but he can only focus on being good for Gerard. 

_Thwack._ “Eight.” 

“Stay with me,” Gerard commands. 

_Thwack._ “Nine.” _Thwack._ “AH! Ten,” Frank moans in the sharp pleasure mixed with pain surging through him. He is completely covered in a sheen of sweat, his face damp against the sheets. 

Gerard pauses again, done with the right shoulder. He traces the edge of the crop over the marks he’s left and makes no sudden move to start on the other side. “Look at you. All spread out for me, taking each hit. How did I almost give this up?” Gerard murmurs the last part, like he didn’t mean to say that out loud. 

But Frank hears it, and that subconscious admission is enough to make fighting against the siren call to slip under worth it to Frank. This is what he’s needed to hear from Gerard for months. It sparks the need in him all over again, “please,” Frank asks. “Please Gerard.” 

“Please, what?” Gerard asks, Frank can feel the smirk on the edge of Gerard’s voice. God, he sounds incredible. _Alive._ So unlike the afraid and angry-at-the-world Gerard he’s seen exclusively for weeks now. 

“Please, Gee. Keep going. Please.” 

“Oh, like this?” Gerard teases, pressing the crop down into the largest welt on Frank’s right shoulder blade. 

Frank nearly shouts, “Ahhh, ahh. Ten more. Please You promised.” Frank is also hard, desperately hard, but tonight’s not for getting off, right now all that matters is Gerard finding his control again. They’re still trying to make their way back to each other, the rest will come back to them with time. But that doesn’t stop Frank from grinding his hips against the mattress for a little friction as he continues to beg. 

The crop moves off Frank’s back and he feels Gerard’s mouth litter kisses across the welts, “Mmm. If you ask nicely.” 

A desperate whine comes out from the back of Frank’s throat and he bucks up against the cuffs on his wrists, aching to return the touch, “Gerard. Fuck. Please, please, please. The last ten, please. Wanna feel ‘em.” 

“You’ve gotta stay still. Wanna make you hurt but only on my terms, got it? No accidents.” Gerard’s hand pushes down on the pumpkin tattoo across Frank’s upper spine to make Frank’s struggling cease. 

Once Frank manages to stay motionless for a beat, he takes a breath and asks one more time, “Please.” 

“Shh, I’ve got you. Ten more, Frankie. Almost done.” 

The last ten are a blur to Frank. He barely manages to call each one out, but he can feel a deliberate pattern on this side that Gerard hadn’t done on the other. By the fourth strike, Frank realizes Gerard is following the path of his shoulder where his guitar strap normally sits. _Fuck._ It's exactly what he asked for, to feel it when they’re playing for the cameras tomorrow. Each hit comes in a perfect line, three across, three directly below those, and a final row of three. The final one comes in right in the center of the three rows. 

“That’s it, Frankie. God, you’re amazing. You stayed with me, ’m so proud of you.” Gerard presses the crop hard into Frank’s shoulder one last time before putting it aside. “Thank you,” he kisses the welts again before moving to grab the key to unlock the handcuffs. 

It's only after Geard’s done caring for Frank - giving him water, applying neosporin to the worst welts, and tucking him into bed with a clean shirt - that Frank feels the shift in Gerard. He can feel Gerard’s hands shaking as they rub up and down his sides, and he lifts his gaze up and sees Gerard blinking back tears. 

“Shh. Gerard. It’s okay. We’re okay,” he kisses Gerard’s jaw and strokes his long hair. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m... not sure,” Gerard says, voice cracking. 

“Not good enough. If I said that, what would you do?” Frank knows it's his turn to catch Gerard before he drops. Gerard’s been pulling Frank from the brink over and over again, ever since that day he showed up to the basement, already mid free-fall. It’s Frank’s honor to return the favor. 

“I’d tell you to be honest…” Gerard sighs and sees Frank give him an encouraging look, “Okay, yeah, I can see where you’re going with this… I feel a little better. More in control. But… I’m not- I’m still working through it all, you know? This is intoxicating and...and I want to make sure I’m not swapping one addiction for another, but I missed this so much.” 

“I missed this too,” Frank tangles their fingers together. “I love when I can feel the marks you leave on me, it gives me something to center myself on. And I think doing this with me has also given you something to hold onto.” 

Gerard doesn’t say anything, but the way he grasps at Frank - pulls Frank flush on top of his chest and they’re pressed together head to toe, and wraps both his arms around Frank’s waist, hands splayed over the crossed guns tattooed on Frank’s lower back, hugging him close - tells Frank that this is exactly what Gerard needed. 

They lay there for a while, simply holding each other. When Gerard’s breathing begins to even out, Frank adjusts to lay by Gerard’s side and keeps his head over Gerard’s heart to feel the steady rise and fall of his chest. Just before Frank dozes off, Gerard speaks softly, with conviction. “I’m sleeping better. And when I sleep I dream about a show with great musicians and ideas and passion and energy and honesty... And when I wake up, I think, _I can do that.”_

Frank curls in closer, knowing that for how difficult the last week, month, and summer have been, that it was all worth it to see Gerard come out on the other side still alive and dreaming. There’s so much they still need to talk about and work through together, but this is a start.


End file.
